Archive for May, 2014

Peruse any bookstore. Inspiring stories of triumph over cancer and tales of subsequent total life transformation abound. Heck, check out the hospital room window ledge, the oncologist’s waiting room, or the coffee table of anyone diagnosed with cancer and you will almost certainly find piles of these “go get ‘em” books bequeathed to patients by their well-intentioned friends upon hearing of their diagnosis.

The day in May 2006 when our older daughter turned nine, my husband rather wistfully commented, “That’s it, half of her life with us is now over. Before we know it, she’ll be off to college.” I remember laughing and thinking this was a rather melancholy way to think about the kids. We were so in the thick of our parenting life, and with a …